Maroubra Beach Drone Fishing

[NewToFishing]

Hi all,

I'm a new fisherman so just saying hello to you all here on this forum and my first fishing report.

Location: Maroubra Beach near surf club

Time: 0700 to 11:00

Bait: Pilchard 

So arrived at the beach early morning after a 12 hour night shift, using pilchards for bait and a grapple sinker on the end of the line. Droned out the bait to around 300 metres away from the beach. 

First catch: Shovelnose shark 91 cm

Second catch: Stingray of some sort

Third catch: Same as second

To be honest was trying to catch some big snapper, but my first real fishing trip and first time fishing from a beach went wonderful as at least I caught some fish!

Also a question to you all, how does one avoid catching a shark? I believe my bait went down to the bottom as it has the sinker on. But there would be no way to keep the bait from floating back to shore without a sinker... So not sure what to do.

Thanks!

[Larkin]

Gday new to fishing!

For snapper, you’ll want to be dropping baits onto reef. Use an app like navonics to find reef areas to drop baits onto for snapper. Rocky areas on the sides of beaches would be the areas to try.

if your getting rays and shovelnose, then your on sand. Most beaches will be sand bottom for hundreds of meters out.

usually off the beach you’ll get plenty good fish in close fishing the gutters. Drone good for sharks out the back - if your into that.

 

 

 

[NewToFishing]

30 minutes ago, Larkin said:

Gday new to fishing!

For snapper, you’ll want to be dropping baits onto reef. Use an app like navonics to find reef areas to drop baits onto for snapper. Rocky areas on the sides of beaches would be the areas to try.

if your getting rays and shovelnose, then your on sand. Most beaches will be sand bottom for hundreds of meters out.

usually off the beach you’ll get plenty good fish in close fishing the gutters. Drone good for sharks out the back - if your into that.

 

 

 

Hi mate, thanks for that advice.

How do I find reefs in the Navionics app? I tried but I can't interpret everything on there...

Also if I was to drone fishing from a rock ledge, would that still only give sharks, or more species as it isn't a beach?

[NewToFishing]

Also another question, if you were drone fishing and wanted to target big game such as tuna etc, where would you aim to drop the bait? 

 

[Pickles]

Thanks for posting @NewToFishing. I’d love a drone, but hard for me to justify with so many “fishing toys” now 🫤. It’s been a while since I’ve been beach fishing, but like @Larkinsuggested, shovel nose and rays are over sand and snapper are a reef species. I’ve found looking at google maps and finding the weed beds, reefs and gutters a helpful way to “discover” new ground in shallowish water. Most of my fishing is boat based, but the reefs and sand banks are pretty easy to identify. I use this method to find squid grounds (kelp and weed around rocky head lands and reefs) as my target species are usually kingies and snapper and squid and cuttlefish are no1 baits.

Look forward to hearing your progress (maybe try some headlands - you could easily get your baits out towards the rocky reefs from the corner of the beach without going off the rocks).

[mrsswordfisherman]

Welcome to the community @NewToFishing

First post - great format thank you

[NewToFishing]

2 hours ago, Pickles said:

Thanks for posting @NewToFishing. I’d love a drone, but hard for me to justify with so many “fishing toys” now 🫤. It’s been a while since I’ve been beach fishing, but like @Larkinsuggested, shovel nose and rays are over sand and snapper are a reef species. I’ve found looking at google maps and finding the weed beds, reefs and gutters a helpful way to “discover” new ground in shallowish water. Most of my fishing is boat based, but the reefs and sand banks are pretty easy to identify. I use this method to find squid grounds (kelp and weed around rocky head lands and reefs) as my target species are usually kingies and snapper and squid and cuttlefish are no1 baits.

Look forward to hearing your progress (maybe try some headlands - you could easily get your baits out towards the rocky reefs from the corner of the beach without going off the rocks).

Thanks for that mate, yea I had a look at Google maps and to be honest couldn't tell properly what was weed beds or what was reef, but it's all trial and error as they say.

Will definitely be going back, and will drone out the bait to the corners of the beach as you said near the rocks, it's much safer as I'm not the best swimmer to try rock fishing.

If I drone it out to the rocks from the beach, would you recommend using a float? Or just a sinker and let it sit at the bottom?

Only thing is, with a drone it's a bit tedious flying it back in and out so that's why people use sinkers and not floats helps keep it in place longer.

What motivated me to try drone fishing was watching big game fisherman catch massive fish land based, would be a dream to achieve something like that.

You should get a drone mate they aren't that expensive I got my Mavic pro from Facebook for $500, they were much more expensive a few years back.

[noelm]

Beach fishing you don’t want your bait “way out” most fish are in gutters and close to the beach, right out, all you will get is rubbish (as you found out) the chances of Snapper off the beach around Sydney is slim at best. You will need to fish the rocks (be careful, the ocean rocks are not for the fool hardy) look for deep water close to the shore, especially if it has broken reef just out a bit, don’t fall for the old thought that the further out you cast, the bigger the fish!

[Larkin]

14 hours ago, NewToFishing said:

Hi mate, thanks for that advice.

How do I find reefs in the Navionics app? I tried but I can't interpret everything on there...

Also if I was to drone fishing from a rock ledge, would that still only give sharks, or more species as it isn't a beach?

Navonics has a paid version with “relief shading” that shows the bottom structure.

this is what it looks like. you can see the reefy areas. Flat areas are sand

Alternatively you can use the public information on seamapaustralia.org

the reefs are in brown

[NewToFishing]

4 hours ago, noelm said:

Beach fishing you don’t want your bait “way out” most fish are in gutters and close to the beach, right out, all you will get is rubbish (as you found out) the chances of Snapper off the beach around Sydney is slim at best. You will need to fish the rocks (be careful, the ocean rocks are not for the fool hardy) look for deep water close to the shore, especially if it has broken reef just out a bit, don’t fall for the old thought that the further out you cast, the bigger the fish!

Got it mate, I had that thought as I watched a few videos of Aussie fisherman dropping it a few hundred metres out from the beach for snapper, but I guess it depends on the beach as they may have done their research beforehand.

[NewToFishing]

1 hour ago, Larkin said:

Navonics has a paid version with “relief shading” that shows the bottom structure.

this is what it looks like. you can see the reefy areas. Flat areas are sand

Alternatively you can use the public information on seamapaustralia.org

the reefs are in brown

Oh you legend, definitely will use this for next trip! Much appreciated 

[NewToFishing]

2 hours ago, Larkin said:

Navonics has a paid version with “relief shading” that shows the bottom structure.

this is what it looks like. you can see the reefy areas. Flat areas are sand

Alternatively you can use the public information on seamapaustralia.org

the reefs are in brown

For the next trip mate, I did some planning and thought the beach off Windang Island (never been there so will be a good trip) maybe good to use the drone with. Around 300 meters offshore and there are some reef around there according to google maps and Seamap.

I have attached a picture, let me know what your thoughts are...

[Larkin]

38 minutes ago, NewToFishing said:

For the next trip mate, I did some planning and thought the beach off Windang Island (never been there so will be a good trip) maybe good to use the drone with. Around 300 meters offshore and there are some reef around there according to google maps and Seamap.

I have attached a picture, let me know what your thoughts are...

I’m not from that area, but that’s @noelm backyard. He should be able to let you know what’s around there 

[noelm]

Yep, I’m from near there, the reef on that side of the island is not that productive, the very front of the island has deep water, but, beware, it can be dangerous, the southern side just slopes away into deeper water, no real drop off as such, so fishing is not too good. Fishing from the entrance with live bait might get you a Jewfish. The end of Bass Point might also be worth a go (be mindful of the sanctuary zone there) plenty of deep water around there.

[NewToFishing]

17 minutes ago, noelm said:

Yep, I’m from near there, the reef on that side of the island is not that productive, the very front of the island has deep water, but, beware, it can be dangerous, the southern side just slopes away into deeper water, no real drop off as such, so fishing is not too good. Fishing from the entrance with live bait might get you a Jewfish. The end of Bass Point might also be worth a go (be mindful of the sanctuary zone there) plenty of deep water around there.

Thanks for that insight mate, might head to the end of Bass Point as you said, and drone out the bait a few hundred metres out, hope for the best. If nothing at all at least would be a nice day out! 

Appreciate all the advice from you all, it's a very welcoming community to new fisherman, thank you! Will keep you updated if anything happens.

[noelm]

Don’t get all hung up about taking the bait out hundreds of metres…..the South side of Bass point is very deep close in, but, it mostly just drops onto sand, so you will keep getting Rays and stuff. Out the very end is a small island/rock, in between is deeper water and another reef right in the middle. On the south side of that rock is good for Kingfish. The wind will probably be NE, so your bait/line is going to go south (ish) to the south of the reef in the middle, there is a long drop off that goes from about 15m to 25m it can be good for Snapper, but the shallow reef up the top is very rough and you will get snagged, probably best fished from the southern side of the sanctuary (Bushrangers Bay) and cast/drone out towards the rock.

[Volitan]

Getting back to your original question, how do you avoid catching shovelnose, stingray and banjos? Use a little float to keep your bait about 600mm off the bottom as well as the sinker. They are bottom feeders and find it very difficult to take a bait that isn’t actually resting on the bottom.

Last night I was on Putty Beach and there were 12 rods out through the evening and all that was caught was 3 shovelnose, so there wasn’t much happening in close either.

my interest in drone fishing is to pursue pelagics - surface feeding fish which around here are almost invariably beyond casting distance, or to fish the local estuary spots which are usually too shallow within casting distance. The beach is easy to work off but (as the others say) not  much happening over the sand.

it’s a learning curve.

Edited December 17, 2023 by Volitan

[NewToFishing]

2 hours ago, noelm said:

Don’t get all hung up about taking the bait out hundreds of metres…..the South side of Bass point is very deep close in, but, it mostly just drops onto sand, so you will keep getting Rays and stuff. Out the very end is a small island/rock, in between is deeper water and another reef right in the middle. On the south side of that rock is good for Kingfish. The wind will probably be NE, so your bait/line is going to go south (ish) to the south of the reef in the middle, there is a long drop off that goes from about 15m to 25m it can be good for Snapper, but the shallow reef up the top is very rough and you will get snagged, probably best fished from the southern side of the sanctuary (Bushrangers Bay) and cast/drone out towards the rock.

I see mate, yea I was of the assumption that further you cast the bigger the fish... But makes sense will keep that in mind.

Just to make sure I understood properly, I've attached a pic with an arrow pointing to the drop point as I have understood it from your explanation please let me know if it's correct.

[NewToFishing]

39 minutes ago, Volitan said:

Getting back to your original question, how do you avoid catching shovelnose, stingray and banjos? Use a little float to keep your bait about 600mm off the bottom as well as the sinker. They are bottom feeders and find it very difficult to take a bait that isn’t actually resting on the bottom.

Last night I was on Putty Beach and there were 12 rods out through the evening and all that was caught was 3 shovelnose, so there wasn’t much happening in close either.

my interest in drone fishing is to pursue pelagics - surface feeding fish which around here are almost invariably beyond casting distance, or to fish the local estuary spots which are usually too shallow within casting distance. The beach is easy to work off but (as the others say) not  much happening over the sand.

it’s a learning curve.

That's also what interests me mate, land based game fishing I see as very interesting... Which is why I got the drone to cast out a bit further or find schools of fish to cast into.

Yea I will try with a float, do you mean having a sinker at the bottom, and bait in the middle and float ontop? 

Because if I just use a float only, the waves will bring the bait back in quickly meaning having to cast out again.

It is a huge learning curve, but I will keep at it, think I found my new hobby of fishing lol.

Watch this video and how they catch tuna from the beach with a drone.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8sdUZqOoAq4&t=10s&pp=ygUSZHJvbmUgZmlzaGluZyB0dW5h

Edited December 17, 2023 by NewToFishing

[noelm]

22 minutes ago, NewToFishing said:

I see mate, yea I was of the assumption that further you cast the bigger the fish... But makes sense will keep that in mind.

Just to make sure I understood properly, I've attached a pic with an arrow pointing to the drop point as I have understood it from your explanation please let me know if it's correct.

Yep, that’s the place, be VERY careful with the Aquatic Reserve, it gets policed regularly and saying you didn’t know won’t work…..the south side of that rock drops into about 25m of water, with the remains of a wreck there too, it drops onto sand/gravel bottom. Roughly inline with the southern point of Bushrangers Bay, is a steep drop off, running east west from that rock towards the shore almost. That entire area gets good fish in there, the warm summer currents rip past there and create an eddy that attracts baitfish, lots of Bonito and stuff there. Just as a side note, that rock is a top spot for Drummer from a boat, some bread burley and bread or peeled prawn bait will see some big ones hooked.

edit……you can see the little reef between the rock and the mainland in that photo, I go through there all the time in my boat, you have to stay close to the mainland!

second edit…..that bay just to the north is one of my favourite Bream spots from a boat, during the strong westerlies, I go right in there and fish for Bream in a metre or so of water.

Edited December 17, 2023 by noelm

[Volitan]

22 hours ago, NewToFishing said:

Also another question, if you were drone fishing and wanted to target big game such as tuna etc, where would you aim to drop the bait? 

 

Where the tuna are. You may not be aware that things have evolved a bit since that video and if you watch the latest YouTube videos on drone fishing for longtail tuna in northern NSW you’ll see that they basically look for pods of dolphin. The tuna follow the dolphin because dolphin are bigger stronger and being warm blooded have much more endurance so are better at finding bait. So the drone-fishers basically just wait on the beach till they see a pod of dolphins swim past and then fly the drone out and scan around the dolphin for longtails, and if they see any they drop the bait (whole dead fish) right among them.  The tuna are triggered to take the bait the moment it hits the water. Insane, exciting fishing.

I asked one of these guys if he ever drones the bait out without seeing dolphin first and he said no. 

someone needs to figure out a drone-specific method of targeting spotted and Spanish mackeral as well.

Drone fishing has been around for a decade or so but most of the opportunities are still unknown. Personally I’d be happy to target bonito, salmon, kingfish, striped or mackeral tuna. Longtail would be the ultimate but I don’t get much opportunity to travel.

can you tell us how you’re finding the Mavic drone. I’ve been using a cheap $100 quadcopter for bait drops up to 200 meters which does the job but I’d like to buy a decent drone soon. I’d like to use the DJI RC that came with my mini 3 pro as it will also work with any of the Mavic 3’s or 2S (hate frigging around with a phone for screen), but maybe an older Mavic is a better choice. 
 

 

[Volitan]

28 minutes ago, NewToFishing said:

That's also what interests me mate, land based game fishing I see as very interesting... Which is why I got the drone to cast out a bit further or find schools of fish to cast into.

Yea I will try with a float, do you mean having a sinker at the bottom, and bait in the middle and float ontop? 

Because if I just use a float only, the waves will bring the bait back in quickly meaning having to cast out again.

It is a huge learning curve, but I will keep at it, think I found my new hobby of fishing lol.

Watch this video and how they catch tuna from the beach with a drone.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8sdUZqOoAq4&t=10s&pp=ygUSZHJvbmUgZmlzaGluZyB0dW5h

Many ways you could rig it. You need a sinker able to hold bottom, the bait and a small float big enough to hold the bait above the bottom. I have used a running sinker on the mainline above a swivel, then a float about a meter below that, and the bait about 300mm below that. The float floats above the sinker and the bait just kind of drifts around at the 600 mm level. 
 

A couple of years ago I dropped a camera out about 200 meters from a local beach to see what was happening. I put the video on YouTube here . You can see the stingrays and banjos try hard but have great difficulty taking anything floating. You will also see there was nothing else out there on the sand, except maybe a few puffer fish.

 

. 

Edited December 17, 2023 by Volitan

[NewToFishing]

11 minutes ago, Volitan said:

Where the tuna are. You may not be aware that things have evolved a bit since that video and if you watch the latest YouTube videos on drone fishing for longtail tuna in northern NSW you’ll see that they basically look for pods of dolphin. The tuna follow the dolphin because dolphin are bigger stronger and being warm blooded have much more endurance so are better at finding bait. So the drone-fishers basically just wait on the beach till they see a pod of dolphins swim past and then fly the drone out and scan around the dolphin for longtails, and if they see any they drop the bait (whole dead fish) right among them.  The tuna are triggered to take the bait the moment it hits the water. Insane, exciting fishing.

I asked one of these guys if he ever drones the bait out without seeing dolphin first and he said no. 

someone needs to figure out a drone-specific method of targeting spotted and Spanish mackeral as well.

Drone fishing has been around for a decade or so but most of the opportunities are still unknown. Personally I’d be happy to target bonito, salmon, kingfish, striped or mackeral tuna. Longtail would be the ultimate but I don’t get much opportunity to travel.

can you tell us how you’re finding the Mavic drone. I’ve been using a cheap $100 quadcopter for bait drops up to 200 meters which does the job but I’d like to buy a decent drone soon. I’d like to use the DJI RC that came with my mini 3 pro as it will also work with any of the Mavic 3’s or 2S (hate frigging around with a phone for screen), but maybe an older Mavic is a better choice. 
 

 

The Mavic pro 1 is probably the best drone for this man, I had one years ago then sold it but they are perfect for drone fishing, and are very cheap now as you have to buy it used. I got mine for $500 from marketplace with 3 batteries and then a 20 dollars dropper rig from eBay, you press a button and it drops the bait out. Your RC won't work with the Mavic pro 1, and I wouldn't use the mini 3 pro for drone fishing as it's lighter than the Mavic pro and won't handle the winds as well in my opinion. 

Yea you are right the holy grail of drone fishing is the big tuna... But would be good to spot other things too. Only issue I've had is the sun reflecting on the phone screen so need a sunshade and also some filters on the drone to help spot fish easier in the water.

[noelm]

That movie just about covers it, there’s next to nothing way out off a beach, unless there is structure of some kind, it’s just a desert in a lot of ways, the odd Flathead or Flounder, though they tend to be in closer too. Banjos, Shovelnose and Stingrays are about it, they just fossick around looking for an easy meal of a shellfish like Scallops and the like.

[NewToFishing]

23 minutes ago, noelm said:

Yep, that’s the place, be VERY careful with the Aquatic Reserve, it gets policed regularly and saying you didn’t know won’t work…..the south side of that rock drops into about 25m of water, with the remains of a wreck there too, it drops onto sand/gravel bottom. Roughly inline with the southern point of Bushrangers Bay, is a steep drop off, running east west from that rock towards the shore almost. That entire area gets good fish in there, the warm summer currents rip past there and create an eddy that attracts baitfish, lots of Bonito and stuff there. Just as a side note, that rock is a top spot for Drummer from a boat, some bread burley and bread or peeled prawn bait will see some big ones hooked.

edit……you can see the little reef between the rock and the mainland in that photo, I go through there all the time in my boat, you have to stay close to the mainland!

second edit…..that bay just to the north is one of my favourite Bream spots from a boat, during the strong westerlies, I go right in there and fish for Bream in a metre or so of water.

Mate that's a heap of gold info for a beginner, I truly appreciate it, and will give it a go there.